First pitch gets an Apollo 11 twist
Armstrong’s son on field as special guest for Astros celebration
The son of Neil Armstrong on Monday evening threw out the first pitch at Minute Maid Park to cap the Astros’ celebrations of the Apollo 11 mission.
Right-hander Rick Armstrong, 62, drew cheers when he tossed a strike to Astros outfielder Myles Straw. Beforehand, he had joked about being nervous before the sellout crowd.
But the evening was tinged by an unexpected somber note. As he waited behind home plate moments before heading to the pitcher’s mound, Armstrong reflected on Christopher Kraft, NASA’s first flight director, who died Monday at 95.
Kraft’s steady hand safely guided Apollo 11’s crew — Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins — through the first mission to put humans on the moon. Armstrong, who died in 2012, once called Kraft “the ‘control’ in mission control.”
“Chris Kraft, his contributions to the overall success of (the program) were amazing,” Rick Armstrong said. “It was very sad to see the news that he had passed away.”
The celebrations at Minute Maid Park and across Houston for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 may be one of the last involving the mission’s most remembered living participants. Aldrin is 89, and Collins is 88.
Johnson Space Center Director Mark Geyer, who joined an unusually large Monday evening crowd of 41,534 to watch the Astros thrash the Oakland Athletics, said commemorating the ingenuity of Apollo-era astronauts and engineers helps NASA harness the public’s attention toward its new goals, including returning to the moon by 2024.
“Many of us worked with them and talked with them, and they shared their knowledge and experiences with us,” Geyer said. “It’s our charge to take care of that legacy.”
Crucial to realizing Geyer’s vision will be engaging younger Americans who know of the Apollo program only through textbooks and film reels.
Houston sixth-grader Aiden Murrah visited the NASA exhibits and purchased two models of the Orion spacecraft. He said he recently attended a Johnson Space Center event and studied the Mars rover for a school project.
“I like robotics and building Legos,” Murrah said.
The Astros also marked the Apollo 11 anniversary on Saturday, when the club placed a memorial strip on
each base with the mission emblem and Armstrong’s famous quote upon touching down on the lunar surface: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
Throughout franchise history, the Astros have capitalized on the popularity of the space program and NASA’s importance to Houston. The team’s name, mascot Orbit and original logo are all a nod to the space program. Before Monday’s game, the field’s video screen showed clips of groundskeepers at the Astrodome dressed in spacesuits — a memorable, if kitschy, gimmick that helped the club set itself apart in its early years.
Rick Armstrong said he often attended Astros games with his father, who threw a first pitch at the Astrodome. He said summing up what his father meant to Houston and the space program is difficult.
“To me, he was sort of just my dad,” Armstrong said. “It’s certainly great to see all the interest in the 50th, and I think there’s a pent-up interest in space in the public, and this is helping unleash that.”
The celebration Monday evening also featured a replica statue of Armstrong’s 1969 spacesuit, a NASA mobile exhibit with a Space Exploration Vehicle and a moon rock. More than 50 NASA staff and volunteers were on hand to interact with fans.